The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1887-05-07
WHITE WIT WIT Til.ACAlNsT RED
loo Wagner Neatly Doubles on tho Indian
~. 49, n Aftnr llls Hcnln. ~ NJ 49,.

III - VA 1AS4AAANSA Mo Y
100 Wagner Neatly Doubles on the Indian
g After His Scalp. 70
N reckon you know tho old Red Cloud
Agency to the northeast Of Fort I.aramicf"
lucried Joe Wagner, the Indian fighter, rs
no was asked to narratg ono Of his advcn-
lures. 59ig ~ 4 S. ',
Eyes," f...,
"Wcll, still TO tho northeast Of that Is the
Spotted Tall Agency, provided tho Indian
agents haven't stolen It. Through these two
reservations runs h bit Of river called the
Niobrara, and at a big bend, midway be-
tween the two agencies, l sot myself down
one fall to do some trapping. It was tho first
or second year ailcr the agencies wcrc cstab'
lishel and the redskins forced to liyo upon
them, md the whole lot Of them wero In n
cantankcro,,s state from Sunday morning to
Saturday night, War parties were sneaking
of the reservations now and then to sneak
back when the pursuit became too hot, and
tho rcd devils Icft at home thought 10 more
of killing white hunter than you would Of
kicking chip ont Of your way. ~ .tj. 4
.j"I went there to hunt ndtrup because It
was great game region, but realized oil
the pcrits. knew that ifwas discovered By
the Indians, I'd bc wiped out instantw. !
outnttcd at Laramie with mule, provisions
and traps, and was ten or 'levcn days getting
to the bend In tho river have spoken of
The first thing wns TO corral the mulc In 4
safe place, and the next to go into camp
about a mileaway and leave rs few traces Of
my presence us possible. didn'tscc any In
llan signs around there, but l didn let that
fact make nc ovcrconfidcnt. l have been
struck by u rattlcsnake when didn't suppose
there was ono within ten miles. made
nc comfortable shelter of limbs and brush,
got fifty-six traps into tho river and some
lead falls set, and had begun to feel a bit
easier in my mind when, on the third day
after my arrival, secuted out to SEQ If tho
mule was all right. | found him dead. His
throat had been cut from eur to car, and, by
tho big horn spoon !, was the work Of red
skin. lie had not only cut tho animals
.hroat clear across, but had cut and slashed
Inc body in fifty rlaccs III the sign language
IF tho Indian TINT meant contempt for the
owner of the mule. II meant for me 10 look
out for myself. 1t meant war to thcknife on
he white man who had dared trcspass upon
The forbidden grounds. VIZ q
"lf l had been fool huff to go walking
around In search Of the mule, the chap who
finished him would have finished me. But
wasn't, you see. l went gliding about like a
sarpint, and from the edge of thickct saw
the body Of the mule lying in little glade.
That there was an Indian near by, readyto
lraw bead on me, had no doubt, and the
,dca didn't rattle me rs much as YOU might
suppose. L reasoned that il there was two
reds they would have run the mule off in.
stead of killing him. believed that there
was only one, and that he was some young
warrior who w,ls nmbitousto match cunning
with me, md who wanted the honor Of
having outgcneralcd me. That tickled
me q Bit don't wan, to do any boast
ing but I've lived in the, Indian
country all my life, and It never
happened that n tredskin got very fur
ahead Of mo Us anybody knows Of. It was
nbout ten o'clock in the morning when got
my gentle hint. From the looks of the body
Judged that the mule had been killed that
that the rcdskin had not yet discovered my
shelter. Otherwise, he would have attended
to my case first My first care was to ret out
of the ncighborhood without leaving my
trail, and then to build a small fire Mt point
n mile or so from my camp, and cut down
brush and make dccoy camp. The fire l
had used to cook my breakfast hnd been
built in hole in the ground, and carefully
extinguished when it had answered my pur-
pose. The red would smell tho smoke OF
This fire half a mile away, md chuckled ns
thought Of him skulking around there and
waiting for man about my size to come in
and be bored with bullet.
1.-THE next move WIS to strike the river
Just where the savage would hit it II looking
for my traps. It was guesswork % course,
but Surveyed the ground, put his head on
my shoulders for half an hour, and when
wudcd back was in ambush in bunch Of
to get to me. ! reasoned that he wouldfindthe
willows, and he would have to show himself
fire and tho counterfeit camp by 'leve,l
o'clock. He would hang around there until
about two before he gave up looking for me
Then he would slide for tho river, hoping to
pick me up us sat on the ground pulling the
rclts off my catch. had been in position
over MI hour, and was beginning to wish
the climax would come, when n sudden
thought lifted nc foot high, and inside
Of minute ! was shaking my way down
the stream. It struck me all in a hear
that had reasoned wrong. The redskir
wouldn't come my way ut all, nor come
through the woods, but would 20 further ul
the river and come floating down along the
right bank. which was heavily shaded, and
in tie shadow. came to u stand about Il
quarter Of mile below the ambush, and III
one Of the small bends Of the stream.
enild now see up the river clear to the spot
had vacated, and what do you suppose hap
pened inside Of ten minutes? We'll, sir, that
Indian came floating down at the end Of III
old log, md when he reached the point op-
rose up, picked his rifle off tho log. and
waded ashore drawing the log after him, and
landing it. Then he softly crcpt into the
willows, and if had been waiting in
the old spot he would have had my back
to him, and would have been goner.
The cuss had reasoned it out for him
sell. He had discovered that the camp
was bogus. He had reasoned that
! would lay for him just where did. Then,
to beat me at my game. he had gone up the
stream md loated down to take mo in the
rear. Sharp Indian, be was, but there was u
party by the name of Joe Wagner in that
ncighborhood just then. l could have shot
the red us he left the water, for had mon.
strously heavy rifle, but l didn't want to-. l
wanted to mortify and humiliatc him first.
IN half an hour he rcappcarcd, and he was
puzzled. After standing for n few minutes he
made up his mind that had posted myself
lower down, and lle sets his log ailoat and
comes drifting along with only hisnosc above
water. Just US he reached me he pushed the
log into the bank, waited for long three
minutes, and then rose upand crawlcd ashore.
AS he rose up to get view around him We
were not thirty feet apart. riZ too, rifle to
my shoulder, and yelled to him: - .ssi2
"'Bah! You are only squaw Mt this
camel .si1fs NJ
"Well, sir, he was paralyzcd-the first case
Of the kind ever saw: His rifle fell to the
earth, his jaw dropped, his eyes bulgcd out,
and just did hate to pull trigger and knock
him over. Wouldn't have done 1t If l had
thought he would have promised to 20 home
and leave me alone, though somebody would
have had to pay for that mulc."-Nep York
I Sun. !. 4, '.ttt., V ~ ~ u.
AS FAIR AS A IIOURI.
( But She Toycd Very CarelcssIy with the
rreccpts of Lindley Murray.
She swept into bridge car bound for
Brooklyn, with u qucenly air, and the con.